free hit counter Snacks, please!: A Fashion Statement

Monday, October 15, 2007

A Fashion Statement

I have nothing to wear. Sigh. Really.

Those of you who know me now may be stunned to hear that I once won a certificate as "Model Reporter" -- and it wasn't because I stayed late at work! Nope, it was 1995 and I was working in a D.C. newsbureau, sending all sorts of stories about pork (and not the legislative kind) to an Iowa newspaper. One day, I was walking near Lafayette Park, wearing a very cool snapped-waist tobacco brown jacket with reverse stitching, when a sweaty guy with a fancy camera stopped me.

"My model didn't show up," he began. (And I thought: White-slave trader?) But I agreed to duck into a nearby restaurant bathroom so that he could shoot me washing my hands, over and again, for a Newsweek story on Ally McBeal-style loos. (It ran. Without my picture.) I got my cuffs wet, but I also got a free lunch at the restaurant. And, at an office party a few months later, my editor presented me with the superlative certificate. (I would have preferred "Most Likely to Work at the NY Times" but whatever.)

Since then, it's been all downhill. As proof: I still have that jacket. Twelve years later! And I don't think I can button it. (Twenty pounds later!... oh, I lie...Okay, thirty pounds later!)

I think the problem is, after that great sartorial start, I moved to Florida and devoted all of my clothing allowance to Lilly Pulitzer skirts with pink elephants and turquoise sharks. And those are great!! But I can't wear them in D.C. in October. And yes, okay...this is my THIRD autumn here with the same ill-fitting pair of khaki pants. Whatever. This is the first winter that I haven't been pregnant or "oh, I just had a baby!" -- a state that can last for YEARS.

So! I resolve to spend more money on clothes! And I'm going to start today!
One, do I need a winter coat that makes me thinks of my Irish grandmother?
Two, do I need Heidi socks?
People, I think I just might.

3 Comments:

Blogger Meg said...

Yes on both purchasing counts.

Here's a hint, if you hit the Anthropologie in Georgetown, they often have prices CHEAPER than the internet. And special bonus if you can (1) take off work; (2) hit an Anthropologie sale; and (3) throw in a massage at the Four Seasons Spa (because yes, you spend more on the massage, but you also get use of the sauna, whirlpool, AND steamroom. Oh, the unlimited clean towels are worth the price of admission). A perfect trifecta that remains elusive to me, but oft dreamt about.

Do I sense a future Girl's Day Out??

October 15, 2007 at 2:09 PM  
Blogger Mary Ellen said...

Oh, I would love that! It sounds like Ferris Bueller's Day Off for the mommy set...

October 16, 2007 at 7:39 AM  
Blogger Pamela said...

I think actually going shopping, sans screaming babies would be a fun! A pampering day out! (you're owed it for the motorcycle shopping days!)

October 16, 2007 at 12:19 PM  

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